Berge turns bad into good SAILING

For Baltimore J-22 sailor Melinda Berge, there were good and bad moments yesterday during the first four rounds of the Santa Maria Cup sailed on the Inner Harbor off Canton.

Two of the good moments were victories against Lynda Corrado of California and Paula Lewin of Bermuda. Two of the bad were losses to Karen Johnson of Canada and Julia Trotman of New York.

"Julia Trotman gave us a severe lesson on how to tack away and give you a tacking duel upwind," Berge said. "We were fortunately able to put that lesson to good use in the last race, which we won."

Berge, captain of the Annapolis J-22 Fleet, said this is her first match-racing regatta. ""In this regatta you are completely oriented to the other boat instead of the rest of the fleet," Berge said. "Not nearly as much attention is paid to wind shifts or wind changes."

Experienced skippers such as Trotman and Johnson, Berge said, "can pay attention to it all at once."

Lewin, Trotman, Mary Brigden Snow of California and Hannah Swett of Rhode Island are in first place with 3-1 records. Dawn Riley, who won last year, lost two and won two yesterday. Racing continues today.